Auburn's Malzahn wins Robinson coach of year award

First-year Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn was named the winner of the Eddie Robinson Award, which is givien annually to the best coach in college football.

The Football Writers Association of America, which votes on the award, made the announcement on Monday.

Malzahn has the Tigers (11-1) in the nation championship game just one year after they went 3-9, including 0-3 in the Southeastern Conference. Auburn was unranked in the preseason polls this year.

"This is a huge honor, and I'm very humbled to be named the recipient of the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award," Malzahn in the release. "I have always had a tremendous amount of respect for Coach Robinson and looked up to him as a coach and as an individual. I accept this award on behalf of our entire coaching staff and players, which have done an outstanding job this year getting our program turned around."